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Kalrum Greatforge
An inquisitive mind turned towards the secrets of the cosmos and how to obtain them. A warlock of terrifying power but a scholar at heart. The older brother to a Dwarven Thane and uncle to Mairla Greatforge. Fairly inaccurate, see his Mead Hall page for a more accurate profile until I can find the time to fix this one. Physical Description Rather average in height for a dwarf, standing at a neat 4'4, wearing finely tailored robes which were enchanted by himself to aid in defending himself from both physical and magical threats. His cyan eyes show a startling intelligence and cunning as they seem to almost look though you. But as he has aged his face has grown gaunt, his eyes dulling ever so slightly, his once brilliantly crimson beard now filled with gray hairs. It's clear this dwarf is not the young man he once was! Kalrum's hat is similar to his robes in that they were tailored to him by a master of craft, and were enchanted by Kalrum to help hide his magical presence as well as to contain a small inter-dimensional space to store items. His staff, once the staff of an Archmage who was slain in battle (not with Kalrum mind you, but to an infernal), and since renamed to "Desolation, Spire of Annihilation" looks much the same as you can see in the picture. Except, as noted (and this all repeated in the exterior link down below to "Kalrum's Staff"!), the staff's rod used to be one of truesilver, with a red gem on the bottom and a larger red crystal on the top. The staff of a pyromancer. During the previous wielders final battle, the crystal atop his staff shattered into pieces that begun to float around the base of the crystal where it was once attached to the staff. When the object was claimed by Kalrum, he used it with his growing fel magic, slowly corrupting the staff and causing fel to erupt and crack along the truesilver staff, tarnishing it and even turning the red crystals to a red-green mix that glowed internally like fire. Later on, after finding an orb of inner chaos, Kalrum would replace the center bit of the floating crystals (the crescent moon with bits inside on the image to the right) with the demonic artifact, further empowering the staff. In the end, it truly lives up to the name Kalrum gave it as it is a truly frightening weapon of his own creation, one that channels immense magical energy on the regular (it glows fel-green instead of purple as the screenshot seems to imply). Personality Kalrum is an exceedingly intelligent and wise dwarf, possessed of an iron will and a stubborn mind he's seen the worse the universe has to offer in his explorations into the Nether and even glimpses into the Void, and has returned with not only his sanity intact, but more focused then ever on defending Azeroth and expanding the knowledge of his fellow spellcasters, regardless of their chosen magic, as to prepare them for the horrors that await them all in the future! He's willing to do anything for the greater good, if that means doing something less then legal, then so be it, if that means deceiving friends, family, and entire organizations, then so be it. And he has the cunning and charisma to get away with nearly all of it as well, afterall, the only fate awaiting weak willed, low ambition, and shy individuals in the path of a warlock is only death or eternal servitude to demons. His memory is excellent, as is his ability to recall information. He wasn't born with an amazing photographic memory and as such, he honed that gift over decades and even centuries of scholarly pursuits and mind training to grant himself a very good memory indeed... History Born shortly after the War of the Three Hammers to Orik Greatforge, a grizzled Wildhammer warrior who picked his wife and new family over his brothers, forswearing his former name of Orik Oathmir and taking up his wife's name of Greatforge. However, Merlia Greatforge, Orik's first wife, was slain in battle alongside her father, the current Thane in defense of Ironforge when the Dark Iron's returned after the first part of the War of Three Hammers. The Greatforge Clan elders, recognized that by somehow wielding Bitter'Ice Orik would become the next Thane of the Clan, but ruled that the bloodline of Zulbar must continue and thus Orik married his second and final wife, Fjoren Rockmantle. A closely related family to the Greatforges with bloodties to Zulbar the Mighty as well! Kalrum is specifically the first son of Orik and Fjoren, but the third son of Orik in total, Thrandrin Greatforge and Orikson being the first two. After Kalrum was his younger brother Zulatobari, followed by his younger sister Fjrorum Greatforge. Early Years Not showing the... aptitude for martial combat like his brothers, nor a connection with the Light like his sister, Kalrum spent most of his youth and young adult life reading and learning, studying history and working as a scribe in the Ironforge Library. However, nearly ninety or so years ago, on a trip through the lands of the Dark Iron towards Stormwind to attend a lecture on Arathi history, he was captured by Dueria Gemhammer, a Dark Iron Shadow Priestess with an interest in scholarly pursuits. Unlike other scholars who bored her and were repaid with slavery like most captured by the Dark Iron's... Kalrum however, he fascinated her, and after years of debates and knowledge sharing, the two actually fell in love and married in secret. By now, Kalrum had discovered he had a minor ability for Arcane magic, but no matter how much he studied, or the patient tutelage of Duerla Gemhammer, Dueria's mother, he grew very little in regards to power. Eventually Corgra, Duerla's twin sister would 'die', sending Duerla into a downward spiraling path, leading to her death in the future as Corgra's daughter-in-law, Mari Darkmine, tried her best to kill Kalrum and her Gemhammer cousins due to the embarrassment Dueria and Kalrum caused her. However, Mari would eventually be defeated and their lives would move on... To further highlight some of the antics that went on, Kalrum was captured by Mari, freed by Corgra, Duerla, and Dueria, captured again after Corgra's 'Death' and during Duerla's grief but was rescued again by Dueria, Zulatobari, Orikson, and Fjrorum. Later on, he'd marry her, father a son he'd never know about as Dueria kept him a secret, and become one of the few dwarven mages of this pre-First War era. The First War When the Shadow Council obtained a home in Blackrock Mountain, many Dark Iron scholars and power seekers were curious about the power they wielded, Dueria was one of them, but she knew not the dangers of trying to combine Shadow and Fel into a single type of energy, a danger she paid for in full when the volatile explosion brought on her death. When Kalrum learned, he was greatly depressed, and attended the scattering of her ashes in disguise, but the horrors of the Second War were already pressing onto Khaz Modan, and he only barely made it back into his city of birth before the gates closed. The Second War Locked in the city along with his kin, he kept himself isolated, studying Corgra and Duerla's tomes and what scraps of knowledge he obtained about the Orcs and their darker magic from Dueria's study until the gates finally reopened. By now, his younger brother Zulatobari had become Thane after Orik had died fighting the orc's, the magical axe known as Bitter'Ice having chosen Zula over his brothers and sister. Still fuming from the lock-in and his fathers death, Kalrum was temporarily granted stewardship of the Greatforge Clan as Zulatobari went orc hunting with Orikson, and Fjrorum who accompanied them only to ensure they came back in one piece. When they returned, Kalrum left for Dalaran to quench his thirst for knowledge but would fail to achieve any meaningful progress or mastery, for he would learn of his wife's demise and wouldn't be taken out of his stupor until the fall of Dalaran several years later (although he'd make solid progress as an enchanter). Dueria's Death and his Son It was during the second war that Dueria Gemhammer, Kalrum's wife, would partake in an experiment trying to combine her Shadow and Void magic with the Fel magic of the orc warlocks of the Shadow Council now inhabiting the spires of Blackrock. This experiment ended with tragedy as Dueria was consumed by felfire as her mind crumbled under the assault of the void, her defenses broken by the backlash. Duerkas Gemhammer, hers and Kalrum's son, a son she had kept hidden from Kalrum out of a wish to raise him to be a proper Gemhammer before any of his father's kin could influence the boy, tried to save his mother and was given horrible fel burns from the attempt. The Third War and it's Aftermath He made a new home for himself in the magical city of Dalaran, the peace he obtained nearly easing the guilt and pain in his heart, but not entirely, and it held him back in his studies. Kalrum was never gifted when it came to magic, his skills were focused in enchanting with a tinge of pyromancy, but his level of power was that of a lesser magi, despite having practiced the magic just as long, if not longer, then many Archmages, with the knowledge of two Archmages at his fingertips in the form of Duerla and Corgra's tomes. When the Third War started, Kalrum had since become a Professor of Ancient History in the city, one of it's Librarians and Chief Scribes, and a part-time Enchanter, but his path would be forever changed when the city fell to the Scourge, when Archimonde was summoned and with a single spell, wiped out the ancient city of magic. Witnessing the destruction of his new life from a distance, Kalrum left his fellow refugees and sought out the very demons that destroyed his home, finding them causing chaos and leading a variety of fledgling cults dedicated to the Legion. Kalrum would spend the rest of the Third War, up until Archimonde's defeat in Kalimdor, learning what he could from the various cults, jumping to new ones when things got dangerous or if the information ran dry... But by the time the war ended, Kalrum left the cult business to conclude his studies on Fel and Demonic Summoning alone, by summoning demons and forcing them to reveal their secrets, taking their power or binding them as servants. When the Alliance was accepting warlocks, Kalrum returned home, his family was at first overjoyed of his return, they had thought him dead, but were soon horrified at the changes to their older brother (Orikson and Thrandrin had long since left, the former chasing battles across Azeroth, the latter rejoining his father's kin, the Oathmir Clan, in the Twilight Highlands). Kalrum would regain their trust in time, just as he grew in power and knowledge over the decades (for him) since the Fall of Dalaran, finally possessing the power to become a hero like his brothers, regardless of the cost... And soon he'd have a plethora of demonic servants, a Sanctum in the Twisting Nether itself, a safe haven hidden in the ruins of a destroyed planet and behind layers upon layers of Kalrum's most potent wards. The purpose, to become his home away from home, a safe place for his riches and relics, and a secure location for his demonic servants to reform themselves upon their defeat in the mortal realm or when dismissed by Kalrum, along with a jail for demons Kalrum banished, as to allow the now Grand Warlock to interrogate them, destroy them, or bind them at his leisure! It is unknown how much time Kalrum spent in the Twisting Nether, or his true age, although given what we know in the audio drama, "A Thousand Years of War", and that he left in Year 21 to the Nether and came back in Year 28 (more or less), he's likely far older then stated here or that he'll admit to anyone. It does not help he hides his older age with potent illusions to make him appear more youthful and vibrant, or how he should appear for the age he gives people, or the age he would be going solely by Azerothian years. Clan Battlehammer & The Runekeeper Order During the time of Deathwing's return, up till the defeat of the Iron Horde in AU Draenor, Kalrum served with an militant clan of dwarves known as Clan Battlehammer, led by the self-styled King, Bruenor Battlehammer who led his dwarves onto a glorious campaign against the Horde. But all things come to an end, and Kalrum eventually parted ways with the warband. And during the Legion's return following Archimonde's defeat at the Black Gate, Kalrum would discover an ancient Titan tome upon the Legion world of Nerothalis. After retrieving the tome and learning it's secrets, a process which lasted from his recovery of it, up until Gul'dan's defeat in the Nighthold. After that, Kalrum would dedicate himself to rebuilding the ancient order, but reforming it as a bastion for all spellcasters, regardless of background or type of magic. With the orders near destruction again, at the hands of Nerothos it was with a heavy heart that Kalrum disbanded the Runekeepers in order to protect the remaining members. Quotes "Knowledge is the path to power and success, it is the key to open all doors." "The wisest spellflinger knows when words alone will suffice." Favorite Quote (from Gul'dan): "Never underestimate a Master Warlock." Trivia This character was first made on Moonguard as a Dwarf Priest to join the Mountain Guard, realizing they were already dead, I found Clan Battlehammer. Rerolling on Emerald Dream as a Dwarf Warlock, I played Kalrum for 5 years in Clan Battlehammer. But, recently (about 2 or so years back in 2015/2016) I was mostly playing on Wyrmrest Accord and only recently, within the month of March 2017 I finally transferred Kalrum here! His name was original Kalrum (unaltered) but due to his name being taken on this server, it is now Kaîrum (alt140). I like to think the ^ on the top of l is in fact representative of his staff. Since his staff has a floating crystal above it, but people keep mistaking his name for Kairum. It's my bad, but kinda funny to me. External Links Kalrum Greatforge: Armory Page Kalrum Greatforge: Runekeeper Profile Page Kalrum's Staff: Runekeeper Item Page Kalrum's Hat and Robes: Runekeeper Item Page Kalrum Greatforge: The Escape (short story) Kalrum Greatforge: Mairla's Redemption (short story) Kalrum Greatforge: Character Concept (tumblr) Category:Dwarf Category:Warlock Category:Alliance Warlock Category:Alliance